Action urged on privacy breaches

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The federal privacy commissioner has been urged to take tougher
action against companies that breach privacy laws after pay-TV
operator Foxtel released a customer's silent number to a
telemarketing company.

Josephine Wadlow-Evans, of Sydney, was incensed to receive a
call from a telemarketer earlier this month asking for her by
name.

When Ms Wadlow-Evans demanded to know how the company had
obtained her number, she was told: "Foxtel sold it to us."

Ms Wadlow-Evans had signed a document marked "s/l" for silent
line when she paid to receive Foxtel's service.

Ms Wadlow-Evans said that when she rang to complain, Foxtel
admitted her details had been released to marketing companies, and
said it would contact these companies to remove her number from
their files.

A Foxtel spokeswoman said that: "Due to human error the
customer's original opt-out request was not recorded. Foxtel
regrets the mistake and acted to correct the error as soon as it
was notified."

But Foxtel's director of corporate affairs, Mark Furness, said
the information could not have been sold because its privacy policy
states: "Foxtel will not sell, rent or trade your personal
information."

However, the policy also says that Foxtel's owners, Telstra,
News Corp and PBL, "may use this information to provide promotional
and marketing information".

Telstra subsidiary Sensis offers services to telemarketers. PBL
has an interest in the data warehouse, Acxiom.

David Vaile, executive director of the Baker & McKenzie
Cyberspace Law Centre at the University of NSW, said the privacy
policy was only "lip service" if there was "internal trafficking in
data" between the companies, and Foxtel had no control over how it
was ultimately used.

He said the Privacy Act contained broad principles for companies
to abide by, but many were burying in their fine print details of
how consumers could opt out of having their data passed on.

Telstra confirmed it had access to the Foxtel database but said:
"Telstra does not sell any of that information to third parties."
News Corp said it had not accessed the Foxtel subscriber list.
Neither had PBL.

The Telecommunications Ombudsman received 131 complaints this
year about silent numbers being disclosed.